Updated July 27, 2026

How to Quit All Apps at Once on Mac (5 Ways)

Ending a work session is messier than starting one. Opening apps is a click each; closing twelve of them means twelve ⌘Q presses, plus the ones that only hid instead of quitting. macOS ships no "quit everything" command — but there are five reliable ways to get there. All work on macOS 14 Sonoma, 15 Sequoia, and 26 Tahoe.

Quick comparison

1. The Force Quit window (⌥⌘Esc)

Press ⌥⌘Esc to open Force Quit Applications. Select an app and click Force Quit; ⌘-click or ⇧-click to select several at once.

Good for: killing something that's hung, right now, with no setup. Limits: force-quitting skips the app's save-and-clean-up path — unsaved work is gone. Use it for stuck apps, not routine shutdown.

2. A Shortcuts shortcut (built in)

The Shortcuts app has a Quit App action that accepts multiple apps in one step:

1. Open Shortcuts and create a new shortcut.
2. Add the Quit App action.
3. Click the app name in the action and add every app you want closed — the action holds a list, so you only need it once.
4. Optionally turn on Ask to Save Changes so nothing is lost silently.
5. Name it ("End of day") and assign a keyboard shortcut, or pin it to the menu bar.

Good for: a repeatable, graceful shutdown with no Terminal. Limits: the list is fixed — editing which apps get closed means editing the shortcut, and one list can't easily mean "just my design apps."

3. AppleScript: quit every running app

Open Script Editor (or run it via osascript) and use:

tell application "System Events"
    set appList to name of every process whose background only is false
end tell
repeat with appName in appList
    if appName is not "Finder" then
        try
            tell application appName to quit
        end try
    end if
end repeat

This asks each visible app to quit normally, so apps still prompt about unsaved changes. Save it as an Application from Script Editor and you have a double-clickable "quit everything" icon for your Dock.

Good for: a true "close all", including apps you opened without planning to. Limits: it's all-or-nothing unless you edit the script, and apps with a save dialog will interrupt the sweep until you answer.

4. Terminal: killall (last resort)

killall -TERM "Google Chrome" Slack Figma

-TERM asks politely; without it you get the same abrupt end as Force Quit.

Good for: scripting, remote sessions, and apps that ignore everything else. Limits: no save prompts, exact process names required, and it's easy to knock over something you needed.

5. DockGroups: Close All for one group

The reason "quit all apps" is awkward on a Mac is that it's usually the wrong request. You rarely want every app closed — you want the six apps belonging to the project you just finished, while Mail and Spotify keep running.

DockGroups makes that a first-class action. Apps live in named groups ("Dev Setup", "Design Mode"), and each group has a Close All button:

• ⌥-click Close All quits every app in the group gracefully, so unsaved-work prompts still appear.
• ⌘-click Close All force-terminates them, for when something is wedged.
• Hide All clears them off-screen without quitting, if you're coming back after lunch.

Anything outside the group is untouched. The free version covers 2 groups; Pro unlocks unlimited groups for a one-time $9.99, no subscription.

Good for: ending one project cleanly without ending your whole session. Limits: a third-party app, and the free tier caps you at 2 groups.

Graceful quit vs. force quit — which to use

A graceful quit (⌘Q, tell application … to quit, ⌥-click Close All) sends the app a request: it flushes buffers, writes preferences, and asks you about unsaved documents. This should be your default.

A force quit (⌥⌘Esc, killall without -TERM, ⌘-click Close All) terminates the process immediately. Nothing is saved and some apps will show a "reopen windows?" recovery prompt next launch. Reach for it only when an app has stopped responding.

Which method should you use?

• One frozen app → Force Quit window.
• Same shutdown list every evening → a Shortcuts shortcut.
• Genuinely everything, occasionally → the AppleScript.
• Scripted or remote → killall -TERM.
• Per-project, several times a day → group-based Close All.

If closing apps is a chore, opening them usually is too — see how to open multiple apps at once on a Mac and how to group apps on your Mac Dock.

FAQ

Is there a keyboard shortcut to quit all apps on Mac?

There is no built-in one. ⌥⌘Esc opens Force Quit Applications, where you can select and quit apps one at a time. To get a real single keystroke, assign a keyboard shortcut to a Shortcuts shortcut containing a Quit App action, or use an app-group tool with a Close All command.

Does logging out close all apps?

Yes — choosing Log Out, Restart, or Shut Down asks every app to quit and prompts about unsaved work. Uncheck "Reopen windows when logging back in" if you don't want them all returning.

Will quitting all apps lose unsaved work?

Not if you quit gracefully: ⌘Q, the Shortcuts Quit App action, an AppleScript quit, and ⌥-click Close All in DockGroups all let apps prompt you first. Force quitting (⌥⌘Esc or ⌘-click Close All) does not — unsaved changes are lost.

How do I close only the apps for one project?

Built-in macOS tools work app-by-app or all-at-once, with nothing in between. Put the project's apps in a DockGroups group and use Close All to quit exactly that set while everything else keeps running.